Jekyll: He's Back
by Angelique Dominee
Summary: After five years of normalty and believing Hyde was gone forever, Tom Jackman has realized his mischievous darker half may have returned. After losing his love, Claire, and rarely getting to see his two sons, Jackman ponders whether or not he has anything left to fight for to keep his sanity. Should he continue to live a life with two halves ... or should he let Hyde take over?


A creaky noise down the hall . . . maybe a moving shadow? Anna wiped her brow, dampened with a nervous sweat, as she dug through the remains of Tom Jackman's old hideaway spot. Even if Hyde was truly gone, this place still gave her the creeps, and as she burrowed she remembered a phrase he had once used, "Lights off . . . you're dinner."

Even as she remembered his threat . . . or perhaps it was more of a promise . . . her skin crawled and her forehead was immediately redampened. Ignoring the sweat this time, Anna breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she discovered the items she needed to recover. The letter with his mother's picture . . . and some hidden-away notes made up by Catherine during her employment. No one had been positive they even existed, since other than Jackman and Hyde, no one really knew much about the woman. Anna carefully leafed through the pages, learning very little more than she already knew about the odd case.

She glanced at her watch. 6:45 P.M. She should have enough time to read through this and make it back to the pub in time to . . .

A doorknob jingled. Anna glanced over at the main door, where the unmistakable silhouette of Tom Jackman shone through the glass window as he reached for his keys. Panicked, Anna turned off her flashlight and managed to quietly sneak into the room closest to the doorway before he managed to open the door.

"I never thought I would have to return to this old dump," he said softly, seemingly to himself, as he turned on the old lights. "Could use a bit of a good cleaning."

"I'll get right on that, Mister Jackman," replied Catherine as she shut the door behind them.

_Damn, _Anna thought to herself as she hid in a dark corner out of sight. _I thought they deserted this place. How the hell am I going to get out of here now? For that matter, what are _they _doing here?_ She did her best to catch glimpses of movement through a decent-sized mirror in the hall.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Catherine asked as Anna watched Tom sit down in the strapped chair. "I mean, after all you've been through . . ."

Catherine began fixing up the straps as Tom replied sadly, "I've been having blackouts again, and I need to make sure he's the same as we last . . . 'parted ways'. I've already lost Claire and barely get to see the boys anymore . . . I don't need him running amok without a leash."

"Do you want me to set up the recorder, Mister Jackman?"

"Yes. If he is in there, he'll need instructions."

Anna could barely believe her ears. Was Hyde really back? If so, her best bet was to escape as soon as he was fully strapped in . . . Hyde would smell her and hunt her down like the animal he was. She was almost transfixed as she watched Catherine tie the last strap and turned on the recorder. "Now, listen carefully. In case you don't remember, the lady sitting across from you is Catherine. We need to make sure you won't be doing anything irrational. Just answer all of Catherine's questions and we'll see . . ."

Anna prepared to leave. She was on her toes, ready to sprint as fast and far away as she possibly could and then some. She was going to wait for the right moment when . . . a thought struck her. Quickly, she glanced at her watch. 6:58 P.M. Her mind went blank as she realized she could not wait any longer; Hyde was going to make his appearance any second now. With fear now pushing her on, she lunged forward and practically collided with the door; her state of mind letting her forget to turn the handle and cause a great ruckus.

"Who's out there?" Tom called out to her, startled someone had managed to sneak their way into such a confidential hideaway.

Anna glanced over her shoulder at him and found herself hurrying even more as he winced, a sure sign Hyde was on his way. She flung the door open as Catherine tried to catch her and managed to rip off a small fragment of her black sweatshirt before the woman disappeared around the corner. "Who the bloody hell was that? How the hell did they get in here?"

"No time . . . for that now. He's coming . . ." Tom noticed the tape recorder was still on and gave a final set of instructions. "There was someone hiding in here . . . they know about us . . . Catherine has a piece of a shirt they were . . . were wearing . . . Find them . . . do whatever's necessary . . ." He nodded to Catherine. "Good luck . . . C-Catherine . . . and may he have mercy on . . . that person's soul." With that, Tom fell over in a dead faint.


End file.
